Financial Armageddon

I read a Newsweek article this weekend that had a very bearish outlook on the economy.

It calls the recent stock market rally a ghost bubble that will burst. Apparently this is historically a common phenomenon. It does seem that the recent gains in the stock market are based on wishful thinking and can not be sustained because none of the problems that caused the market crash have really been corrected. The stimulus money that the government injected is a band aid that doesn’t address the root problems of toxic assets among other things.

With many people thinking the stock market is poised to crash again, they have driven the price of gold up to record levels. It is certainly tempting to pull out of the stock market and buy gold but it is simply a commodity that is prone to boom and bust as well. And given what God has said about the value of gold prior to His return, this seems especially risky… “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” (James 5:1-3, NKJ)

Another investment alternative is the money market which is based on U.S. Treasury securities. But with the debt our government is taking on and the value of the dollar being under assault around the world, this may be the biggest risk of all.

So what to do? I think that the Lord is allowing all this to happen to remind His followers not to put their trust in things of this world. Now more than ever, we need to trust in Christ and Him alone. As Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20, NKJ).

Jesus also told us how to lay up treasure in heaven… “make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home” (Luke 16:9, NKJ). Making decisions about the fleeting resources we have with an eternal perspective is liberating.

So we should make deposits into the eternal treasury “while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4), NKJ). It sure seems like we don’t have long to labor until we’ll be experiencing the treasures in heaven.